Firearm Sales Skyrocket in Election's Aftermath

The sale of firearms and ammunition continues to increase in the weeks following Obama's reelection.

Although gun-control advocates wish President Obama would act more quickly to curtail the Second Amendment rights of American citizens, gun owners have found his reelection to be sufficient motivation to increase their stockpiles of firearms and ammunition.

As reported previously for The New American, the days immediately following Obama’s reelection witnessed a significant increase in the value of the stock of several firearms manufacturers, and online ammunition retailers found that they were swamped with orders. As a writer for MSN Now wittily observed: “Those folks Obama once famously talked about as clinging to their guns are apparently expected to cling to more of them now that the president has been re-elected.”

Now, three weeks after the election, it is becoming clear that the post-election stockpiling is continuing. Erin Mulvaney wrote for the Houston Chronicle that post-election shoppers include not only long-term gun owners, but also those who have never owned a firearm:

Owners of some Houston gun shops say they have noticed an increase of gun sales since President Barack Obama's re-election, and attribute the rush to the president's reference in a debate to renewing an assault rifle ban.

Jim and Joy Pruett, who have run Jim Pruett's Guns and Ammo for 11 years, said sales have gone "through the roof" since Election Day. "We haven't been able to keep up with it," Pruett said. "It's beyond our wildest imagination."

Matthew Swan, a firearms associate at Gander Mountain on Hempstead Road, said he's also noticed an uptick in gun sales and ammunition since Obama's re-election.

"People come in here with opinions," Swan said. "There are people coming in that have never even been interested in firearms."

An article for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review noted that it was not only fears concerning the president’s views on gun control that were motivating firearm sales; fears of a widespread economic collapse and civil unrest drove others to prepare for the worst:

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